Feasibility studies are underway for a proposed 120-head-per-week abattoir to be built in a former school in Belmont, Man.
Arvid Dalzell, who has a 200-head cattle ranch on 780 acres near Baldur, Man., said if environmental regulators approve the $2 million project, it would employ 20 local workers and provide an additional marketing channel for beef producers in the area.
Dalzell, who also owns D.A.L. Meats, which processes and sells beef, pork, sausage and deli meat to restaurants, small retailers and the home freezer market, said he is looking for business partners to help finance the project and become involved in the operation.
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Converting the flat-roofed cinder block building topped with large wooden beams won’t be difficult, said Dalzell, who has extensive experience as a general contractor.
“The only thing that would hold it up now would be the environmental studies.”
He said the additional cost could wipe out the proposed slaughterhouse’s viability if regulators insist on a water treatment plant upgrade to service the site.
Dalzell said that the final plans could be modified to also handle pigs, with a possible split of 300 hogs and 75 cattle per week, depending on the requirements of future partners and how much money they are willing to invest.
Making the new facility a federally inspected operation is the most desirable course, he said, but if the extra costs for that level of certification are prohibitive, a provincially inspected plant might prove to be more viable.
Federal requirements are extremely stringent, he added. For example, an inspector must be on site full time, which would cost at least $30,000 a year. Also, many parts of a plant’s design will need an engineer’s stamp, which adds substantially to the cost.
Dalzell first became involved in value-added meat processing after the BSE crisis hammered the local cattle industry in 2003, and cull cows were selling for as little as $25 each.
In 2004, he converted one bay of his three-car garage into a meat-cutting floor, complete with coolers and machinery at a cost of about $60,000. Since the operation was small, and didn’t involve sewer or water modifications, obtaining provincial approval for that operation was not difficult, he said.
“Getting a sausage kitchen and cutting floor set up was very simple,” he said.
“(The provincial inspector) walked in, and when he got done, he signed the papers and said, ‘go to work.’ “
Dalzell said his value-added operation, which was aimed at grinding beef trim into hamburger and now employs up to six workers, has greatly exceeded his initial expectations.
“When I started, I just wanted to sell about 25 cows,” he said, adding he now processes about 160 head a year, plus fats and sausages that use mainly pork.
Margins on beef processing are thin, Dalzell said, and it’s not a business for the faint of heart. Pork is added to some sausage recipes not just for flavour but also because it is cheaper. All-beef types, while popular, are generally a break-even proposition for the processor.
“You better have it figured out what you’re buying. Selling T-bones, rib eyes, sirloins and roasts with the rest of it going into hamburger, you’re losing money. It’s a tough business.”
Discussions with the provincial government about support have been favourable, but since the border opened to cattle younger than 30 months, a good portion of the cash incentives for building meat processing and slaughter have dried up, he said.
Due to its more modest scale, Dalzell predicted that his Belmont project would have a better chance of succeeding than the ill-fated Rancher’s Choice slaughter plant. The $20 million proposed facility was officially shelved last year.
